Odds and Ends – January 10, 2020 – January 23, 2020

Atlanta (AP) — A Georgia family got a real hoot from its Christmas tree: More than a week after they bought it, they discovered a live owl nestled among its branches. Katie McBride Newman said Friday that she and her daughter spotted the bird on Dec. 12. They had bought the 10-foot (3-meter) tall tree from a Home Depot, brought it back to their Atlanta area home and decorated it with lights and, coincidentally, owl ornaments.

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“It was surreal, but we weren’t really freaked out about it,” McBride Newman said. “We’re really outdoorsy people. We love the wilderness.” The family opened windows and doors near the tree hoping the owl would fly away, but it didn’t. “The owl seemed to be pretty comfortable, and I thought, ‘Hey buddy, it’s not going to go well if you just stay here. There’s no food, I’m sorry,’” said McBride Newman’s husband, Billy Newman. So the family called a nonprofit nature center for help. The Chattahoochee Nature Center caught the bird and helped the family release it. McBride Newman said she believed the bird had been in the tree since they bought it, but was hidden. “We think he was just in there hugging the trunk,” she said. “It’s a very dense tree and it was very fresh. That’s why we picked it.”

Pranksters charged after home,
cars covered in cheese slices

Girard, Pa. (AP) — A man and two teenage boys who allegedly covered two cars and a home with cheese slices are facing disorderly conduct charges. Pennsylvania State Police say the prank occurred in Girard early Saturday. But it’s not clear what motivated it. The names of the three suspects — a 17-year-old Girard boy and two Lake City residents, ages 17 and 18 — have not been released. Authorities say they admitted their involvement in the prank. It’s not clear if anyone was in the home at the time of the incident.

Police: Marijuana Christmas gifts
sniffed out at airport

Nashville, Tenn. (AP) — A man who may have been dreaming of a “green” Christmas found himself inside the gray walls of a Tennessee jail. According to court documents, state police caught Somphone Temmeraj, 57, with more than 80 pounds (36 kilograms) of marijuana disguised as Christmas gifts at Nashville International Airport on Monday, news outlets reported. Officers and a K-9 smelled a strong odor of marijuana coming from three bags, according to the documents. The officers said they saw Temmeraj pick up the bags and load them onto a cart. Temmeraj allowed officers to search the bags, which were filled with what appeared to be wrapped Christmas gifts. The items were actually filled with vacuum-sealed bags of marijuana weighing 84 pounds (38 kilograms), authorities said. Temmeraj had flown to Nashville from Seattle, the documents state. He was booked into jail and bonded out Tuesday morning, according to online records. It’s unclear whether he had an attorney who could comment on his behalf.

Football-making town sets record
for most thrown at once

Ada, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio town long associated with the manufacturing of footballs has set a Guinness World Record for the most thrown at the same time. The organization certified the record after the attempt was made Oct. 25 by 950 people simultaneously throwing a football on the Ada War Memorial Stadium football field, the Lima News reported this week. Students from kindergarten through 12th grade joined teachers, coaches, bus drivers, school staff and community members to set the record. The Wilson Football Factory in Ada donated more than 1,000 commemorative footballs for the attempt. Workers at the factory make about 3,000 footballs a day, cutting, stitching and lacing each by hand in a 25-step process. The company supplies the football used by the NFL.